Irish gal
Well-Known Member
Faracat, I agree with you as it depends on what the horse is doing. And it's another interesting point all of it's own! For instance I get a lot of very concerned buyers worrying if the horse can carry 13 stone - which is really no biggie. Not if you consider what horses are designed to do and used to do.
On that subject a farmer friend spoke about this. He said their old Irish draught, his grandfather's horse, on a Sunday he took the family to mass - a round trip of 30 miles at 8am. Then the horse was taken out from under the trap and took his grand-dad hunting for the day. And this was routine, and now there are buyers wondering will the horse stand up to carrrying 13 stone for hacking - faintly ludicrous given the breed's history.
As your friend pointed out, it's true horses don't mature til later and fair enough, he chose not to break til five. He was an expert, but so much depends on what the horse is destined to do and in whose hands he is. For instance carriage horses took years to train, I think something like four years, it was an absolutely expert field.
Today I know people ruining horses at three - without ever backing them. I know of a fab mare who was such a good jumper her owner pushed her to win all the loose jumping competitions in her age category as he thought he would then sell for a big price. The poor mare just stopped jumping, very understandably as she was pushed too far.
The whole point is I suppose, that a real expert horseman can really understand his horse and won't ask more than they can give. As an example the same man with the stallion I mentioned above; now this man has about 70 horses producing top sport horses (like nations cup) and NH horses, told me that he has a mare who is better than anything he ever had. But she's tense so she won't just jump on demand. He said he will give her all the time in the world "and maybe she'll be eight when she drops it or maybe she never will". He has the expertise to understand her and her issues but most hobby riders don't.
On that subject a farmer friend spoke about this. He said their old Irish draught, his grandfather's horse, on a Sunday he took the family to mass - a round trip of 30 miles at 8am. Then the horse was taken out from under the trap and took his grand-dad hunting for the day. And this was routine, and now there are buyers wondering will the horse stand up to carrrying 13 stone for hacking - faintly ludicrous given the breed's history.
As your friend pointed out, it's true horses don't mature til later and fair enough, he chose not to break til five. He was an expert, but so much depends on what the horse is destined to do and in whose hands he is. For instance carriage horses took years to train, I think something like four years, it was an absolutely expert field.
Today I know people ruining horses at three - without ever backing them. I know of a fab mare who was such a good jumper her owner pushed her to win all the loose jumping competitions in her age category as he thought he would then sell for a big price. The poor mare just stopped jumping, very understandably as she was pushed too far.
The whole point is I suppose, that a real expert horseman can really understand his horse and won't ask more than they can give. As an example the same man with the stallion I mentioned above; now this man has about 70 horses producing top sport horses (like nations cup) and NH horses, told me that he has a mare who is better than anything he ever had. But she's tense so she won't just jump on demand. He said he will give her all the time in the world "and maybe she'll be eight when she drops it or maybe she never will". He has the expertise to understand her and her issues but most hobby riders don't.
